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GBC salutes The Leadership’s Houbolt with Regional Visionary Award

Jan Houbolt, who for 25 years has presided over The Leadership, the highly-regarded year-long program for future business, civic and government leaders that nurtures awareness of the region’s strengths and challenges, was honored by the Greater Baltimore Committee at their Annual Meeting May 8 with the 2013 Regional Visionary Award.

Houbolt, executive director of the GBC-affiliated program, is retiring this fall.

“Jan has played an instrumental role in shaping this program into a truly unique experience,” GBC President & CEO Donald C. Fry said in presenting Houbolt the award at the GBC Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore.

“His style of engaging class members in frank and enlightening dialogue and exposing emerging leaders to compelling, sometimes once-in-a-lifetime experiences has made The Leadership the premier program of its kind,” said Fry. “It not only educates, but bonds generations of leaders in our region together.”

The Leadership’s class members gain a broad introduction to many aspects of life in the Baltimore region. In class sessions, retreats, site visits and experiences from January through October, class members learn about issues that impact the region including economic development, public education, health care, the arts, crime, poverty, regionalism and race.

Today, hundreds of Leadership graduates of can be found in board rooms and on professional staffs at many of the major organizations and institutions in the Baltimore region. Many Leadership graduates are CEOs at major companies in the region or elected leaders. Graduates include GBC chairman Brian Rogers, chairman and chief investment officer of T. Rowe Price Group, and Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

The GBC’s Regional Visionary Award was created in 1997 to recognize individuals and entities for their significant contributions to the betterment of the Greater Baltimore region. The 2012 recipient was UMBC President Freeman Hrabowksi. Past recipients have included Walter Sondheim, former Legg Mason CEO Chip Mason, Governor Martin O’Malley, and developer and philanthropist Willard Hackerman.